The present invention relates to a CATV (cable television or community antenna television) system and a terminal apparatus used therein.
In CATV systems, a center facility provides own programs and commercial broadcast programs on the air to a plurality of subscriber terminal apparatuses via transmission cables. In recent years, services of CATV systems include data transmission. Further, bi-directional CATV systems are now operated in which each terminal apparatus can transmit a signal (i.e., an up signal) to a center facility. CATV systems limitedly operated in schools, hotels, etc. are specifically called "CCTV (closed circuit television) system".
In the conventional CATV systems, when a user reserves a certain program to receive it automatically by a timer operation, he needs to input all the necessary data, such as a start time, an end time, a channel number and a day of the week, using a keyboard or a remote controller, which is a complex operation. In particular, reservation of a plurality of programs requires a very long procedure, i.e., complex, cumbersome operations, and it is sometimes the case that a program reservation attempt results in a failure due to an input mistake etc.